🇲🇽 Mexico

Aguirre typically sets Mexico in a 4-3-3 or 4-4-2 mid-block, sitting compact and looking to win the ball in transition. Edson Álvarez screens the back four, while Orbelín Pineda and Luis Chávez — who possesses a ferocious long-range shot — provide energy and width in midfield. Full-backs Jesús Gallardo and Jorge Sánchez push forward cautiously. The team is built to be hard to break down before releasing Gimenez and Quiñones on the counter.

Watch Santiago Gimenez first — the AC Milan striker is Mexico's most lethal finisher in a generation, a penalty-box predator who scored prolifically in the Eredivisie before stepping up to Serie A. Edson Álvarez anchors everything from deep at Fenerbahçe, a ball-winning midfielder whose range of passing and positional discipline make him the team's spine. Julián Quiñones, the Colombian-born naturalised forward at Al Qadsiah, offers direct, physical running in behind that defences struggle to track.

Santiago Gimenez's elite finishing gives Mexico a genuine goal threat at the highest level. Edson Álvarez's defensive midfield quality is Champions League-tested from his Ajax years. Playing on home soil across three host cities adds a crowd advantage that historically lifts El Tri in knockout moments.

The centre-back pairing of César Montes and Israel Reyes lacks top-level European club experience and has been exposed by quick forwards in recent friendlies. Creativity between the lines is thin — Orbelín Pineda is inconsistent, and no midfielder reliably unlocks a low defensive block with incisive passing.